Warden Head Lighthouse, erected at Ulladulla in 1873 and
re-erected at Warden Head in 1889, is significant as a rare example of an iron
lighthouse designed in the office of the New South Wales Colonial Architect,
James Barnet. It is also rare in having its original optical apparatus intact
and in use (Criteria B.2 and F.1). The lighthouse is also important for its
associations with New South Wales Harbours and Rivers Department Engineer in
Chief, E O Moriarty, who initiated the proposal to assemble locally designed
and manufactured iron lighthouses at Wollongong and Ulladulla (Criterion H.1).

Description:

An iron framed tower clad with cast iron plates riveted
together. It is 12m high with a further 2.3m buried in concrete foundations.
There are three timber floors connected by iron ladders. The balcony
surrounding the lantern is supported by cast iron brackets of an ornate form
identifiably from the office of the Colonial Architect, James Barnet. The iron
railing of the balcony is very plain in comparison. The Engineer in Chief of
the New South Wales Harbours and Rivers Department, E O Moriarty, initiated
the construction of two iron lighthouses to be assembled on sites at Belmore Basin,
Wollongong and at Ulladulla Harbour
breakwater. Drawings were prepared in the office of Colonial Architect James
Barnet and tenders were invited by the Public Works Department in October 1869.
The two structures were fabricated in the foundry of Joseph Mather.
Ulladulla Lighthouse was relocated to Warden Head in 1889. A drawing made at
the time indicated how the splayed base was sunk into concrete foundations. The
original Chance Brothers of Birmingham optical apparatus is still in use.